Aren't You A Little Young To Be An Engineer?
by Mo Cat
Summary: Another "How Harper Met Beka" story. It came from a dream, so I'm making most of it up as I go. Rating because both Harper and Beka say some no-no words, plus Trance asks a silly question in the first chapter. NOT A ONE-SHOT.
1. Chapter 1

I haven't had a new story up in so long… Sorry that I quit the last one, "Redemption," but I ran out of motivation for that story. Well… I know the whole "How Harper Met Beka" thing has been done dozens of times before, plus we've already had an episode that explained how Harper came to be a member of Beka's crew, but I had a dream one night and this is how it went…   
  
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Beka Valentine, captain of the Eureka Maru, shoved a piece of her shoulder-length red hair behind her ear and looked up from her drink. Her blue eyes scanned the small bar until they came across a purple girl with curly blond hair and a tail. Trance Gemini was an enigma to Beka, but she was her best friend and one of her two crewmembers. The purple girl turned away from the bartender and approached Beka's table. By the smile on her face, Beka guessed that she had good news.   
  
"So?" Beka encouraged impatiently. She licked her lips in anticipation as Trance enjoyed her excitement for a moment.   
  
"He said he knows a few people for the job," Trance finally answered.   
  
Beka nearly shrieked with joy. "Did you get the information we need to find them?"  
  
Trance held up a flexi and smiled. Beka snatched the flexi from her hand and scanned it silently. "You're welcome," Trance mumbled. She started to turn away but was prevented from doing so when Beka wrapped her arms around her.  
  
"Did I ever tell you I love you, my lucky charm?" Beka asked dreamily.  
  
"No, but I can sense it somehow…" Trance laughed. "Should we start today?" Beka nodded and pulled Trance by the wrist toward the door. "The bartender said we should try that Harper guy first. He said he's the best."   
  
"Yeah, okay, Trance," Beka acknowledged as she pulled Trance through the door into the busy street.   
  
"Shouldn't we go find Bobby first?" Trance asked worriedly.   
  
Beka paused outside the bar, looking up at the bright morning sky. Bobby was probably sleeping or making trouble at another bar. She didn't need to deal with him right now and he probably wouldn't give two flying monkeys if the girls interviewed engineers without him. She shrugged lightly and scanned the flexi for the name Harper. "Here it is!" she exclaimed. "Seamus Harper. Eh… He lives in the slums. You sure he said 'Harper?'" Trance nodded innocently. "Okay… Let's go then. Just stay close, alright?"  
  
The two walked in silence through the busy streets of the tiny planet's market. As they entered the wealthy part of the residential area, they looked at the houses in mild astonishment. Even for "rich" homes, the buildings were broken down. Whatever paint was put on the metal exteriors was chipping away. Beka could only imagine how bad the slums were. The pair continued along the streets, which were becoming less crowded as they neared the slums. Finally they reached a gate in the road. A guard stood inside a small building, stopping every person coming through the gate into the wealthier part of the residential area. Trance and Beka passed through the gate, sticking close together for protection.   
  
"I don't like this, Beka," Trance whispered.  
  
"Relax, Trance," Beka calmed her, a bit uneasy herself. "All we have to do is find this guy and get back to the Maru." She found herself wondering what this Harper guy might look like. Anybody that was good enough to be recommended by name for his engineering skills had to have had years and years of experience. The image of an old man with a gray beard filled her mind. As she checked the flexi again for Harper's address, she felt Trance's hand wrap around her arm. She looked up and followed the purple girl's gaze to where a pair of ratty men sat staring at them from a bench. Her hand instinctively rested on her gauss gun at her side. "Walk faster," she whispered to Trance.  
  
"We have to turn here, Beka," Trance said as they came to a side street. Beka didn't know how she knew this was the street they needed; the streets weren't named, but numbered, and Trance hadn't even looked at the flexi yet. She trusted her friend at all times, so the pair turned onto the street and began searching the buildings for Harper's apartment. They found the apartment number on the side of a concrete and aluminum building. There was no paint on the exterior, save for the numbers by the doors, and the aluminum doors were rusted to high hell.   
  
"What a dump," Beka mumbled as she began to think of turning back and finding somebody else for the job. Something in the far corner of her mind compelled her to continue to the door of the apartment, and before she knew it, she was knocking on the rusted aluminum and waiting for an answer with Trance right by her side.   
  
Trance stood next to her friend, her tail twitching nervously. She could faintly pick up the sounds of footsteps on the other side of the door. "I hope this is worth it," she whispered. The door opened a crack and an ice blue eye stared out at them.  
  
"Can I help you?" a small voice asked. As Trance's eye traced along the crack in the door, she could see pale skin and a tuft of blond hair.  
  
"We're looking for Seamus Harper," Beka answered after consulting the flexi. The blue eye looked her up and down, then did the same to Trance.  
  
"That would be me," the voice grunted. "What do you want?"  
  
"We need an engineer, and a bartender told us about you," Trance replied. The blue eye blinked a couple of times as if the owner was thinking.   
  
"How much are you paying?" he asked.  
  
"How much do you want?" Beka questioned back.  
  
The eye blinked some more. "Five thousand for everything you need done."  
  
"Five thousand thrones?" Beka choked. "That's more than we've got at the moment." (A/N: I don't really know a whole lot about currency on "Andromeda," so please don't hurt me if 5,000 sounds stupid.)   
  
"Then I can't help you." The door slammed shut in Beka's face. "Go away!" the man inside shouted.   
  
Trance pulled Beka away from the door and looked at the door as she whispered, "I'm getting one of those feelings, Beka… I think we need this guy." Beka raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded nonetheless. Trance went back to the door and picked at her fingernails as she thought. "How about a warm room, a nice bed, and hot food for as long as it takes you to fix our ship?" Trance shouted to the man inside. Beka lightly slapped her arm in protest. There was silence for a moment, until the door opened a little again.   
  
"Will you buy me dinner at any restaurant I want tonight?" the man asked. Beka realized how young he sounded when he asked that.  
  
Beka rolled her eyes over to Trance, who shrugged innocently. "Fine. Free room and board while you fix the ship, and I'll buy you dinner tonight," she said in resignation. She really hoped this guy was worth all this trouble.  
  
The blue eye looked at them for a moment before the owner pulled the door open all the way. He was short, skinny, and blond. Beka guessed he was maybe sixteen, if that. His size and the lack of bone blades told her that he was definitely not a Nietzschean. She secretly inspected him a little closer, noticing a nasty rash creeping from beneath his tattered shirt up his neck. His eyes were slightly glazed over, his hands shook, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. '_Great_,' Beka thought, '_I just made a deal with a sick **kid**_.'  
  
"How old are you?" she asked. It sounded ruder than she meant it to.   
  
He sniffed at her and said, "Nineteen…" She raised both eyebrows at him and he narrowed his eyes. "I'm from Earth, okay? You don't exactly grow up to be over six feet tall when you live off bread and water your whole life."  
  
"Oh," Beka said quietly, regretting ever questioning him about his age. Well, that at least explained his size. He was too skinny; his clothes, which would be small on Beka, were loose on his body and she could see the bones in his wrists. "How did you get here?" she ventured.  
  
His hand traveled up to his neck and he tapped a metal device embedded in his skin behind his ear. "This data port has gotten me a few jobs… But never mind about how I got here. That's not important. What about that dinner you promised me?"  
  
Beka remembered their deal and pulled a few currency chips out of her pocket. She shuffled them around a bit, her brow creasing in disappointment. "Try to keep it cheap, will you? We're not exactly rich. I'm Beka, by the way. Captain Beka Valentine. This is Trance Gemini. You'll be working on a cargo ship called the Eureka Maru."  
  
Harper leaned against the door frame as e regarded the two women. The redhead was pretty. She looked like she was tough, like she didn't take flack from anybody. A person had to be tough to be the captain of his or her own ship. The purple girl was a babe. Her skin was the color of plums or grapes. Her tail was different, but he thought it was kind of intriguing. He turned away from them and wandered into his apartment to his bed. "Excuse the mess," he apologized sarcastically. There was no mess; he was wearing everything he owned, sans a jacket that lay on his bed. The bed wasn't even his. It came standard in these free housing projects. He picked up the jacket and slipped it on uncomfortably. As he exited the apartment, he pulled the door shut and locked it. "Shall we?"  
  
The unusual trio walked the streets at a fast pace. Beka and Trance walked half a pace behind their new engineer, each watching his wobbly steps. His blond spikes waved slightly in the cool breeze. Trance thought he looked like he would break if she touched him. She'd never seen a full-grown human so fragile before. He was almost an alien to her eyes. Her thoughts wandered to the future. '_Bobby can snap this kid's neck with one hand_,' she thought uneasily.   
  
"Here," the kid said softly as he entered a small building. Inside there were a variety of races sitting at red tables. Waitresses of different races tended the customers, smiles gracing their faces like they really _did_ want to be serving people. Beka had tried to hold a job as a waitress on a drift once, but it never worked. The Maru was her home and her work. The smell of food drifted to the dining area from the kitchen in the back and Beka realized how hungry she was. Harper sniffed the air and sighed happily. "This is my favorite restaurant. And don't worry, their food is cheap," he said with a glance at Beka.   
  
A waitress approached them and showed them to one of the red tables, setting menus down at the seats and getting her notepad out to take their drink orders. Trance ordered a fruit drink, Beka ordered very weak liquor, and Harper ordered plain water. This surprised Beka because Harper struck her as the drinking type. Her eyes wandered back to the horrible rash on his neck and she shuddered.   
  
"I hope that's not contagious," she said, gesturing at the rash.  
  
"I hope so, too," he replied. "I don't even know where it came from." The waitress came with their drinks and Harper immediately started drinking his water.  
  
"Had any sex lately?" Trance asked out of nowhere, causing Harper to nearly choke on his water. The stares she received from Beka and Harper made her laugh a little. "He could have gotten it from a girl…" she explained.  
  
"No," Harper replied quickly. "Not a chance. Now if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about my non-existent sex life…" He took another sip of his water and looked at Beka. "What exactly is wrong with your ship?"  
  
"Slip drive's shot, engine needs a tune up, life support's screwy… That should be everything. Although, if you name a part, it more than likely needs fixing. Our last engineer… Um… Well, he died, and we haven't been able to fix everything ourselves. I'm not exactly gifted in the field of engineering and Trance… She's not allowed near anything mechanical." She watched Harper as listened with mild interest. He was pathetic, just sitting there scratching his neck, looking like a skeleton with hair. The sudden uneasy look on his face alarmed her. "You feeling okay, kid?"  
  
"Harper," he corrected harshly. "My name is Harper." He finished his water and looked around for the waitress. "Where's the waitress, I need more water."  
  
Trance eyed him worriedly. She'd only just met him, but something about him made her want to be his friend. It was obvious he was sick, the question was how sick was he. He shifted nervously in his seat, clutching his stomach like he'd just been elbowed in the gut. His eyes grew wider and glazed over some more.   
  
"Harper?" Beka asked, worried at the look on his face. He got up and ran for the door of the restaurant, one hand over his mouth, the other reaching for the door. Beka blinked in confusion and looked at Trance. "I'll go," she sighed. She stood and calmly left the restaurant, leaving Trance alone at the table. She found Harper outside, his face buried in a trashcan while he emptied the few contents of his stomach into the bottom. She winced at the sound of his stomach rejecting whatever might have been in it. "I thought you said you were fine," she said, making him jump.   
  
His blue eyes looked up at her sadly, as if he was asking her for forgiveness. "I'll be fine, don't worry. This happens at least twice a day," he explained. He held his breath for a moment, then stuck his face in the trashcan again. Beka approached him sympathetically and placed a hand on his back, albeit reluctantly. Her touch unnerved him and he shied away, wincing slightly. She raised her hands to show she meant no harm.   
  
After a moment of awkward silence, Harper stood up straight, running a hand through his blond spikes. Beka eyed him cautiously, noticing he was a shade paler, if that was even possible, and he looked as if he would faint at any moment. "Do you want to skip dinner and head to the Maru so you can rest?"   
  
Harper shook his head defiantly. "I'm fine. Besides, I don't sleep. I'm a mud foot, it's in my genes to have insomnia." He smiled slightly and walked back into the restaurant, followed closely by Beka. When he sat down, he took a long drink from the new glass of water Trance had ordered for him while he was gone. Trance and Beka watched him with raised eyebrows, making him even more uneasy than he already was. "Don't look at me like that," he warned quietly. The girls looked at each other and shrugged, trying not to focus their attention on him.   
  
"So, Harper," Trance started, careful not to look directly at him, "you said you're from Earth. How'd you get all the way out here?"  
  
Harper licked his lips and sighed. "Well, I told you my data port has gotten me a lot of jobs, right? The truth is, I've only had one major job on a ship before this one. Only, it wasn't really a job. It was a slave ship. My 'employer' treated me like dirt, then refused to get me help when I got sick. I tried to leave, but he wouldn't let me. I even ran away once when we were on a drift picking up cargo. He found me, though… Boy, I never tried to get away again. So anyway, we come to this drift a couple of years ago, and I'm sick as a dog. I mean, I could barely function I was so freakin' sick. He didn't want a sick slave, so he dumped me in the bar you guys got my name from and took off for his next cargo run, one slave short. What a guy…"   
  
"So I take it you got to a doctor after he left you?" Beka asked.  
  
"Kind of," Harper answered. "The bartender took me to one of those free clinics. They couldn't really do anything for me there except give me some antibiotics and a bed for a couple of weeks until I was healthier. Once I had over stayed my welcome, they set an apartment up for me in one of those free housing projects. That's where you came in."  
  
Trance felt a pang of pity in the pit of her stomach. She'd never been in that kind of a situation. She'd always had a place to live and people that cared about her. When she joined Beka's crew, Beka accepted her as a friend and someone she could trust. Bobby, on the other hand, didn't like her much. He thought she was too mysterious and would probably try to kill him if she'd been given the right opportunity. Since the Maru was Beka's ship, Beka decided who would be on her crew. Trance remembered a time when Bobby had yelled at her for sleeping in the wrong bunk. Beka yelled at Bobby for hours for ever raising his voice to a member of _her _crew. She told him that if he didn't like Trance, he could leave. As Trance thought, she realized that she was staring at Harper with sympathy in her eyes.   
  
"Don't feel sorry for me," he whispered just loud enough for the women to hear. "I hate pity. It gets you nowhere." The waitress approached and the trio ordered their food. Harper hardly ate anything, but he agreed to take his food back to the Maru so he could eat when he felt a little better. Beka almost wanted to force him to eat because he was so thin. She didn't want him to pass out in her slip drive. She'd get stuck with his medical bills.   
  
After paying the check, the trio left the restaurant and walked in silence to the Maru. Harper's steps had gotten more unsteady since they left his apartment a couple of hours before. The girls still were still worried about the fact that he hadn't eaten much at the restaurant. Beka no longer regarded him with disgust; she pitied him for all he said he'd been through. As the trio entered the Maru, Bobby's voice drifted from his quarters. He was drunk again.  
  
"Shit," Beka muttered under her breath. "Look, kid, you're about to meet Bobby, my boyfriend. Just… Just remember that he's probably drunk right now and he's not so bad when he's sober. Okay?" Harper nodded slowly, afraid that he'd gotten himself into another bad situation. "Bobby, come here for a second!" the redhead called out.  
  
"What do you want?" a deep voice bellowed, followed by loud footsteps and some muttered curses. Soon a tall, muscular man appeared before the trio. He swayed in his place, looking over Harper like he was a dog looking at a piece of meat. "Who the hell are you?" Harper backed up slightly, his eyes turning to the floor. He suddenly wouldn't talk. Trance noticed the fear and frustration on his face and spoke up.   
  
"This is Seamus Harper, he's our new engineer," she answered softly.   
  
"Shut up," Bobby growled at her. "I wasn't talking to you. If he's gonna be a member of this crew, he's gotta learn to answer questions when they're asked. Especially by me."  
  
Beka glared at him with pure hostility. "This is _my_ ship, Bobby. _my_ crew, not yours, remember? What makes you so special that he has to bow down and kiss your feet?"  
  
Bobby snorted at her and walked away angrily. "Just keep the little rat out of my way," he called back.  
  
Harper sighed sadly as he continued to look at the floor. "And the first rule of play is that I stay away from _that_ guy…" he mumbled quietly. Beka looked at him apologetically. "Don't apologize, Captain Valentine. I'm used to it. So where do I start working anyway?"  
  
"I think life support is the most important thing at this moment," Beka answered. "When we're flying, the air smells like sulfur and it gets real dry in here. You don't have to start today, you know. It can wait until tomorrow. You look like you need some rest or food or something."  
  
"I told you I don't sleep and for the last time I feel fine. Now show me where to start…"  
  
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This first chapter was long, but the rest might not be so long from now on. I've actually been working on this story for over a year now. What you're reading is a newly revised version that I've decided is good enough for the likes of fanfiction.net. It's only a little bit like the story I originally wrote. In fact, this first chapter is the only one that has only been edited a little bit. The rest are completely new. Don't you feel special? Please review, if you feel like it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews. Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer thingy last chapter. I don't own "Andromeda" or the characters included in it. No money for this story, although it would be nice… Can I send out letters in envelopes with those "Non-Profit Organization: No Postage Needed" spaces now?   
Oh, and these are the lyrics to the song Harper will be listening to sometime in this chapter. DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own this song, Statemachine does.   
  
BATTERED AND BRUISED by Statemachine   
Guess I had to be kind of blind not to see  
How it was bound to be in vain  
Hung around for the plot to thicken  
While being stabbed again and again  
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back  
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough  
I simply have to bail  
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end  
I feel torn apart and abused  
Battered and bruised  
I guess I'm stupid to nurture an addiction to hope  
But it's not my only vice  
I surrendered again thought things would change  
Now imagine my surprise  
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back  
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough  
I simply have to bail  
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end  
I feel torn apart and abused  
Battered and bruised  
Words by Mårten Kellerman   
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Harper looked at the mess of wires before him and smiled a bit. '_I haven't done this in a while_…' he thought. It was true. He hadn't had a job in engineering since he'd been on this planet. All of his jobs had been delivering parts to ships that already had engineers. He'd been dying for a job doing what he knew best: fixing things that others had broken. When Beka and Trance showed up at his door six hours previously, he felt so relieved.   
  
He turned to the small console behind him and pushed a button, turning on some music he'd found in the Maru's archives. The band had existed thousands of years ago, but he didn't care. After reading the lyrics to the song, "Battered and Bruised" by Statemachine, he decided he had to hear it. Electronic "synthpop" music blasted through the speakers in the Maru's machine shop and his smile broadened tenfold. "My kind of music," he mumbled to himself. He cleared a space in the web of wires surrounding him and sat on the floor, and then began sorting through the wires to make sense of them all.  
  
That was how Beka found him a few hours later, still sorting through the jungle of wires. Most of them were braided together and tossed into organized piles. He was now sitting in the far left corner of the room working on a group of black and silver wires. The music was still blaring, the same song she'd been hearing since he turned it on. She supposed the song was appropriate for him. "I feel torn apart and abused/ Battered and bruised," were some of the lyrics. Harper must not have heard her come in, because he never looked up from the wires and his head still bobbed lightly to the music. She cleared her throat to get his attention and it worked. His head snapped up and he dropped the wires, standing up quickly.   
  
"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," he apologized. His words were so rapid she almost couldn't understand him.  
  
"Relax, shorty," Beka laughed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everybody else is asleep. I can never sleep while my baby's being fixed." Harper raised an eyebrow at her and tried to hide his smile. "Don't… say… anything… This ship is my life, okay? I was born on it, I was raised on it, and I'll probably die on it." Harper put his hands up in silent surrender. "Aren't you hungry yet?"  
  
Harper's baby blues wandered for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I am," he answered. "Can I have my leftovers from dinner now?"  
  
Beka sighed. "You don't have to ask, you know," she told him. "It's your food, eat it if you want. And you're welcome to anything you can find in the mess hall. It was part of our deal, remember?" She picked up one of the braids of wires, this one colored red, white, and yellow. "What are all these wires from?"  
  
"Life support. That's what the problem was. Your last engineer must have been bad a wiring. He had everything all mixed up."  
  
Beka narrowed her eyes. "I was the last one to rewire life support, thank you very much… And I don't know very much about engineering. I told you I was bad."  
  
Harper looked like he'd given himself a mental slap in the face. "It actually wasn't bad for somebody who doesn't know anything about engineering." 'Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Harper,' he thought. "Well… I'm going to go eat now, okay?"  
  
"Let me show you to the mess hall," Beka said, dropping the wires back on the ground.   
  
"I can find it. I memorized the map of the Maru before I started working." He smiled and left the machine shop, leaving Beka astonished.   
  
'_This kid is amazing_,' she thought. '_I wonder if he'd be interested in staying on board when we leave_…'   
  
Trance climbed out of her bunk the next morning and stretched her hands to the ceiling, letting her tail swish from side to side to work out the kinks of sleep. For a moment she forgot the events of the previous day, but the sounds of somebody crawling through the conduits above her reminded her that Harper was on board. She smiled and made her way to the mess hall to get some water and maybe something to eat. On her way there, she passed Beka's quarters and saw that Beka was in her private shower, but Bobby was not in the room.   
  
Upon arrival at the mess hall, Trance was unpleasantly surprised to see Bobby sitting at the table eating a sandwich. He glared at her as she made her way to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, watching her every move. She tried to ignore him, but eventually she could feel his eyes on her. She spun around and glared back at him, pursing her lips into a thin, plum colored line. "Do you mind?" she growled softly but harshly.   
  
"What did you say?" he growled back, not quite as soft as her. "Don't you start mouthing off, you purple wench."  
  
"If you touch me, Beka will kick you off this ship," Trance warned. Bobby started laughing at her comment, standing up and getting closer to the small purple girl. He was twice her size when he stood up.   
  
"Beka doesn't have the guts to kick me off this ship," he said as he reached his hand out and brushed Trance's cheek. She backed into the counter behind her and tried to push him away. "She loves me too much, you know that. She won't do anything to me."  
  
"She might not, but I will," Harper's voice interrupted Bobby's moment. Bobby spun around, only to be met by Harper's fist in his face. Harper must have crawled into the mess hall from one of the conduits when nobody was paying attention. He staggered for a moment, shocked that somebody had hit him. His disorientation didn't last long, though, and he grabbed Harper by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the floor. "Don't you ever touch me again, you little rat," he warned.   
  
"Don't you ever touch Trance again, you big…" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Bobby slammed him into a wall, knocking the wind out of him, and started kneeing him in the abdomen, throwing in a few punches to his face. Before long, he felt Bobby's grip on him loosen and he fell to the floor, gasping to catch his breath. In his dazed state, he didn't hear Beka's shouts or Trance's soft words of comfort. His head spun from the pain, and soon he was slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing he felt before he fell completely into oblivion was Trance's warm hand brushing his hair back from his face.   
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This one wasn't as long as the first chapter, but I warned you that that would happen. So? Is my "promising" beginning continuing into a promising story? Review if you want. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again for the reviews. It's greatly appreciated. I'm happy to see that I've finally got a story people actually like. I'll try to post at least every other day from now on, if not every day, but I can't promise anything. Ah… Summer vacation is great for an aspiring writer…   
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"Harper?" a soft female voice reached his ears. He was going through the stages of regaining consciousness, and right now he was regaining his hearing. "Beka, I think he's waking up." It was Trance. Somehow he figured she'd be the one watching over him while he was unconscious, especially since he'd taken Bobby's attention off of her. Soon his eyelids twitched and he opened his eyes, narrowing them to block out some of the bright light. Trance hovered over him like a worried mother, with a warm smile on her face, running her hand ever so gently through his hair. For a moment he thought he was five again, back at home in his mother's cradling arms. Then the pain in his ribs came back and he was rudely pulled back into reality. "Harper, are you okay?" Trance asked. He moaned in pain for a moment, thinking she had asked a stupid question.  
  
"I feel like I just came from the fountain of youth," he replied sarcastically. He brought his hand to his forehead and rested his wrist on it. "What's the damage report?"  
  
"Bruised ribs and a mild concussion," Trance reported. "You should stay in bed for the rest of the day. And I'm giving you some medicine for that rash…"  
  
Harper wanted to laugh, but he knew it would hurt too much, so he only smiled. "Normally I'd praise you for telling me I should stay in bed, but our deal was that I work for room and board. I haven't even finished the life support system yet, ergo I can't stay in bed all day."  
  
Beka appeared next to Trance and gave him a look that could kill. "My boyfriend beat you up, I think that qualifies you for some down time, shorty," she told him. "If you won't stay in bed for the rest of the day, at least do all the easy work. I don't need you making your injuries worse, because I really can't afford any medical bills right now."  
  
Harper held out a hand and Trance helped him sit up. She handed him a shirt, but it wasn't the one he'd arrived on the Maru in. He grumbled as he took the shirt, but he put it on nonetheless. "Damn you and your hospitality," he said, half jokingly. His eyes slowly wandered to meet Trance's and he noticed the look of pity in the dark orbs. "So, you saw the scars, then?" Trance looked at the floor and nodded. "I told you I was on a slave ship. I did tell you that I tried to get away once, right? You don't get caught and walk away with a slap on the wrist. It's more like… forty lashes with a barbed whip." He shrugged and hopped off the medical bed he was sitting on. "I'll be in the machine shop if you need me." His steps echoed as he entered the corridor and headed back to the machine shop. Trance looked up at Beka, who sighed heavily and left the room, heading in the opposite direction as Harper.  
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Beka entered the Maru's brig and glared daggers at Bobby, who sat in one of the tiny cells. She tried to remember exactly how she got him in that cell. Her adrenaline must have kicked in when she saw him pounding Harper into a wall because she could remember throwing him out into the corridor after screaming her head off at him. He looked up at her and frowned, his disappointment in himself showing through his expression.   
  
"Well, you didn't kill him," Beka informed him. "For a minute there I thought you did, but then Trance told me he still had a pulse." Bobby remained silent as he watched her feet as she paced to and fro in front of his cell. She suddenly stopped pacing and turned to him with a quiet rage in her stance. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" she finally screamed, her face flushing red with anger. "He's half your size, Bobby. You could have easily crushed his skull and we'd have a dead kid on our hands, leaving me to explain to the authorities that MY BOYFRIEND IS A MURDERER!"   
  
"Hey, why do you care so much anyway?" Bobby asked loudly. "He's just a lousy mud foot, you don't need to worry about him so much."   
  
Beka screamed to vent some of her anger and grabbed her red hair, ready to pull it out. "He's a human being, Bobby! He's not some bug that you can squish because you don't like the way he looks. And in case you haven't noticed, he's been working his ass off trying to fix my ship since he got here. I think we owe him a little more gratitude than bruising his ribs and knocking him out, 'cause I don't know about you, but that's not exactly the thanks I'd want." She started pacing again, flexing her hands into fists and then relaxing them repeatedly. The wheels in her mind were working overtime and she was about to blow steam out her ears. Her main focus was what to do about Bobby. Harper seemed like he really did know what he was doing, and he'd been doing a good job so far, so she didn't want to get rid of him. Bobby was a complete asshole, but he was her boyfriend and she felt like she needed that kind of stability. Then again, having Bobby as a boyfriend was anything BUT stable. She began to wonder if she was ready to get rid of Bobby. He'd been warned before that if he pulled anything remotely stupid or dangerous, he'd get kicked off the ship. '_That time is now_,' she decided in her mind. "Bobby… I want you off this ship in two hours." She unlocked his cell and left the door open for him. "If you're not gone in two hours, and if you're lucky, I'll call the authorities and have you arrested for trespassing before I shoot your manhood off." She spun on her heals and walked out of the brig, a smug, self-satisfied grin on her face, while Bobby still sat in his cell in complete shock.   
  
Harper stifled his laughter as he watched Beka leave from a conduit above the brig. He'd heard the commotion and found a good viewing spot right above Bobby's cell. Beka's words about him being a human being stuck in his mind. Was it possible that somebody actually cared about him? Beka was actually kicking her boyfriend off of her ship to keep him from having to deal with Bobby anymore. This was the first time since his mother died that somebody was actually protecting him from harm. The bartender that took him to the clinic when he first arrived on this planet was a friend, no doubt about that, but he would never do something _this_ drastic to help him. Maybe he'd finally found a place where he was accepted as a person, not property. Maybe he'd like to stay on this ship as a permanent engineer…  
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Harper slipped out of the conduit into the machine shop a few hours after Beka's ordeal with Bobby and wrapped an arm around his ribs. Maybe crawling through the conduits wasn't such a good idea. At least he'd finally finished fixing the life support system. He smiled contentedly at the cool air that was now venting into the room since he'd fixed the system. "I need a drink," he said out loud, even though he was alone.   
  
Beka was sitting at a table in the mess hall when he got there. She was running her finger along the rim of a tall, clear glass filled with what looked like whiskey. It was obvious that she'd been crying, but Harper figured she'd probably deny it like most women. He quietly entered the room taking small steps. He didn't want to take any chances that she wouldn't be upset because he was the reason she's kicked Bobby off the ship. She looked up at him and smiled softly, trying to look happier than she really was. It failed horribly because her eyes were puffy and red and her tears had stained her cheeks.  
  
"I heard everything," he admitted quietly. "I could say thanks, but it doesn't look like it'll help any. I'll say it anyway. Thanks, Captain Valentine."  
  
"Call me Beka, please," she said. "Anything but 'Captain Valentine.' It makes me think of my dad." She motioned for him to sit down across from her and went to the cabinet to get another glass for him. "Do you drink, shorty?"  
  
"Not really," he answered. "It usually makes me sick." She took the empty glass to the fridge and got him a bottle of water instead. "Thanks," he said when she handed him the glass and water. He hesitated to open the bottle, watching her as she sat back down and took a sip of her whiskey. "I'm sorry, boss."  
  
"It's not your fault," Beka sighed, waving a hand to dismiss his apology. "I warned him before about touching my crew members." Harper's heart skipped a beat when she said that. She considered him a member of her crew? "This time he crossed a very broad line in the sand. I should be apologizing to you for his stupidity." She looked confused for a moment as she looked around the room. Raising a hand in front of the vent next to the table, she smiled. "You fixed life support. Thanks, ki… Harper. So does this mean you'll actually stick around to fix my ship?"  
  
Harper smiled and nodded, finally opening the bottle and drinking the water straight from it instead of dirtying the glass. Beka could tell by the look in his eyes that there was more to his answer. He noticed the expectant look on her face and sighed. "I was even wondering if you wanted a full-time engineer… Permanently… Meaning I leave with you when…"  
  
"I get it, Harper," Beka interrupted with a smile. "If that's what you really want. I mean, I would love to have you stay. You won't have to worry about Bobby anymore." Harper's pleading blue orbs looked like puppy dog eyes for a split second and Beka's heart caved in. "Welcome aboard," she laughed.   
  
Harper celebrated silently, careful not to jar his ribs too much. The smile on his face was almost foreign to Beka. She hadn't seen him give a genuine smile like this one since he'd been on the ship. He took another sip of his water and continued smiling. Beka felt like she'd just saved his life by letting him become a member of her crew. "Pardon the cliché," Harper said, "but I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…"   
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AW! Happy sappy moment there at the end… sighs happily and smiles Review if you so desire it. More to come soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much for the positive reviews. I'm completely loving the fact that so many people actually like my story. Sorry it's been a while since I updated, but I've been busy and kind of low on creative brainpower. I hope this chapter pleases you like the others did. I know it's short, but I think it's a good one. Oh, and the matter of currency comes up again, so please excuse me if I sound stupid. I didn't study "Andromeda" currency for this one...  
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Beka opened her eyes and sighed deeply. It had been two days since she kicked Bobby off of the ship and she was actually starting to regret it. Usually when she felt regretful, all it took was one look at Harper's bruised face to make her stop feeling that way. He wasn't there now. She was alone in her quarters, just waking up from a rather fruitless night's sleep. A tear slid down the side of her face and she rolled over on her side, cuddling Bobby's pillow to her body. All she could seem to think about was all the times he had lied to her or all the times she had yelled at him, but in the far corners of her mind, she could remember all the good times; waking up next to him every morning and smelling his cologne, those few occasions when they had time to go out for a romantic dinner, and all the times he had encouraged her to continue with the toughest jobs because everything would be better once it was all over. Those times left with the coming of his addiction to alcohol and his high-and-mighty attitude. Just thinking about how quickly he had changed made her cringe. What had happened to the man she loved?   
  
A knock on her door startled her out of her reverie and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts, but she pulled her blanket around her shoulders as she stood to answer the door anyway. It was Trance that waited for her on the other side. Her smile was somewhat uplifting as she offered Beka a steaming cup of black coffee. "Wakeup call," she nearly sang. "It's almost ten in the morning, you know. Harper said he's almost done with the repairs. He just had to go out and get some last minute parts he needed to fix the engine. Until he comes back, it's just us girls."  
  
Beka tried to make her smile sincere as she took the offered cup of coffee, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders. She took a sip of the drink and sighed. Trance made the best coffee. "When did he leave?" she asked, meaning Harper.   
  
"About twenty minutes ago. He said it wouldn't take him long because he knows all the best places to go," Trance replied with a reflective smile. She still wore a look of concern that Beka couldn't understand every time she talked about Harper. It was like Trance knew something that Beka didn't. Beka gave her a puzzled look and she giggled a little. "He's just so… so shy still. I don't understand it. It's like he doesn't trust us. I just wish he'd realize that we're not going to hurt him or anything like that."  
  
"Trance, it's hard for him to trust anybody but himself, and I'm sure even that's difficult," Beka explained. "Being a slave, not to mention from Earth, has that effect on people. It could take him years to break out of that shell of his, if he ever breaks out of it at all. That's just something we have to accept and get used to."  
  
"I guess you're right," Trance said with a sigh of submission. "I'm just glad that he wants to stay."  
  
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Harper gave an exasperated sigh and leaned against the counter, glaring at the shop owner. "This part isn't worth that much," he growled for what seemed like the tenth time. "I'll give you…" he pulled the currency chips Beka had given him when he first started fixing the ship and counted them. He threw the chips on the counter and said to the shop owner, "That's twenty-five thrones, half of what you're asking. Either you take it or I'll take my money elsewhere."  
  
The shop owner gave him a contemplative look and glanced at the part they were arguing about. "You're a stubborn pest, mud foot," he finally said with a hint of an accent. "Take the damned part and get out of my shop." He snatched the chips off the counter and slipped them into his pocket, grumbling and cursing Harper the whole time. Harper put on a satisfied smile as he grabbed the part and left the shop. Once outside, he looked around and remembered which way he had to go to get back to the Maru. He'd gotten the three parts he needed in thirty minutes, his personal best. He walked in silence through the busy market streets, his head bowed out of habit, careful not to bump into anybody if he could help it. This was how he had to walk when he was entering a Nietzschean-ruled neighborhood or when he was walking behind his former "employer." While he walked, he could feel a presence behind him, following him, but he tried to ignore it.  
  
To occupy his mind, he thought of that late night conversation he'd had with Beka the night she kicked Bobby off of the ship. She seemed so sad, but he knew that what she did was only going to liberate her. He hadn't seen much of her since that night. If he wasn't working, he was sitting in the machine shop listening to music and reading some of the flexi novels he'd found in storage on the Maru. The instances where he was in the mess hall or anywhere else on the ship, Beka was always in her quarters or away from the ship. Beka was still coping with what she'd done, that much he understood, but what bothered him was the fact that she didn't talk about it. Maybe she was just like he was, always keeping to herself and never letting others know that something was wrong. The idea that she was a lot like him somehow troubled him. With everything that he'd been through came low self-esteem and the idea of somebody else feeling the same way bothered him. Beka was better than that. She was tough, and from what he could tell, she always persevered. She was too beautiful, smart, and strong to feel like he did, like nothing he did ever mattered and his life would amount to nothing at all.   
  
A voice from behind him brought him out of his troubled thoughts. The voice was so familiar that it sent chills down his spine. "Why are you walking so fast, you little rat?" He stopped walking and stood perfectly still, afraid to look at the owner of the voice. Harper had only had one bad run-in with him, but that, combined with Beka's stories, was enough to make him hate every last fiber of his existence, starting with the people that gave him life. Bobby Jensen was his enemy the minute he set foot on the Maru and now he wanted nothing more than a gauss gun to blast his brains right out of his head. "Think you can replace me, mud foot?"  
  
Harper cringed at the name. He knew what he was. He didn't need Bobby to remind him. "That's impossible," Harper replied, turning slowly to face Bobby, who stood behind him with a crooked snarl on his face. "I'm not a big enough asshole to replace you." Bobby apparently didn't like that answer because he took a swing at Harper, catching him across his jaw and knocking him to the ground. Harper landed with a thud and he groaned slightly. "We gonna dance again, big guy? What's the matter, didn't get your kicks last time?"  
  
"You're the reason Beka kicked me out," Bobby growled. "She wouldn't have done that if you hadn't won her over with your helpless, 'look at me, I used to be a slave…' attitude." He picked Harper up by the collar of his shirt and Harper dropped all the parts he'd been carrying. "You must have lied to her to get her to like you so much. I mean, look at you… You're nothing compared to me. How else could you have done it?"   
  
"I guess I'm all charm," Harper said with a sarcastic smile. "And you're right… I can't think of anybody who compares to you. No… I don't think I've met anybody with a brain that small." Bobby snarled again and slammed him back onto the pavement, getting a painful groan out of the tiny human. Harper was sure he'd just broken one of the ribs he'd bruised a few days ago. Pain exploded in his sides and he coughed, trying to regain his breath. As he rolled over onto his stomach to try and heft himself back up, Bobby kicked him back onto his back and reached into his coat pocket. His hand returned clasping a gauss gun with the safety off.   
  
"I'll make Beka take me back," Bobby said quietly. "She'll want me back when you're out of the way. When she finds out you're dead, she'll come running to me for a shoulder to cry on." He aimed the gauss gun at Harper's chest, his hand shaking slightly with anger. Harper couldn't think of anything to do but stare at Bobby in defiance. If he was going to die, he didn't want to go without a fight. Without hesitation, he leapt back onto his feet and lunged at Bobby. Bobby fired the gun in surprise. The stray shot hit something. Harper's scream echoed in the empty street.  
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MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA… MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA… cough, cough Oh, pardon me… I love cliffhangers… Especially when I write them. Sorry folks, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happened… 


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, everybody. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been a busy person. I know it was cruel to keep you waiting so long, but I never intended for it to be this long. So please, don't hate me and enjoy this chapter.  
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Harper backed away from Bobby, who was just as stunned as he was. He pulled his arm back to hit Bobby, but pulled it close to his body when pain flared from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers. Bobby had hit his right shoulder with that shot. His mind reeled for a moment as he realized what had just happened. Unfortunately, that moment gave Bobby enough time to recharge his gun and aim it at Harper's head.  
  
"Don't even _think _about moving," Bobby warned him. "That was really stupid of you, you know?" He looked at Harper's blood oozing from the wound in his shoulder and shuddered, putting on a disgusted face. "You bleed fast, don't you, rat?"  
  
Harper tried to blink the dizziness away, but it didn't work. He swayed a little on his feet, as he stood up straight and glared at Bobby. "I'm sure I can make you bleed faster," he threatened. His threat was answered with a maniacal laugh from Bobby. "Growing up on Earth teaches a person a few things about how to survive." Bobby raised an eyebrow at him. "Rule number one… Start with the groin." He ducked under Bobby's gun and kicked him as hard as he could in the groin. Bobby cried out in pain and doubled over, giving Harper a chance to knee him in the face. His first attempt only shut Bobby up, but his second attempt knocked him to the ground. "Don't you ever just get knocked unconscious, you big bastard?" Harper asked as he kicked Bobby in the face. After a few more kicks, Bobby was finally unconscious. His nose was bleeding quickly. "Told you I could make you bleed faster…"   
  
Harper bent over and picked up the gun Bobby had dropped on the ground when Harper started beating him. When he stood back up, he got extremely light headed and nearly fell over. He really was losing a lot of blood really fast. Breathing the dizziness away, he picked up the parts he'd dropped and continued on his way to the Maru. It took him everything he had just to stay on his feet.   
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Beka finished running the diagnostics on the Maru's bridge and decided to go for a little walk outside of the ship. As much as she hated planets, she felt like she needed some fresh air. Trance was in her makeshift hydroponics bay taking care of her precious plants. She'd told Beka that she was worried because Harper was taking so long to get the parts he needed, so she needed something to occupy her mind. Beka knew too well that Trance's entire mind could do five things at once and she was probably still worrying about Harper as she took care of her plants. She didn't blame her for worrying. Harper had been gone for nearly two hours and it was starting to get dark. What if something had happened to the engineer?   
  
She entered the cool air of the planet and pulled her jacket closed. There was a cool breeze blowing from the east, where, according to her maps of this planet, there was a large lake. The wind usually blew east, so the temperature in this city was usually low and their winters were harsh and cold. Beka let out a breath of air and realized she could just barely see her breath condensing in front of her face. Before she could walk very far, she heard a faint shuffling sound behind her and spun around to see who it was. Harper was slowly walking towards her, dragging his feet on the ground. Blood dripped from the tips of the fingers on his right hand and his face was deathly pale. As she approached him, his knees gave way and he collapsed to the ground, landing on his left side. He didn't attempt to move any more and just lay in the dirt moaning in pain.  
  
"Harper!" Beka called out, increasing her pace until she was running toward him. She reached his side and fell to her knees, assessing the wound in his shoulder. He was losing too much blood too fast. Before long, his moaning stopped and he closed his eyes. "No, Harper! Stay awake, shorty!" She shook him lightly and his eyes fluttered back open. "Look at me. Stay awake, okay? I'm gonna help you stand up and then we're gonna go inside so Trance can fix you up, okay? Ready? On the count of three… One… Two… Three." She lifted him to his feet and wrapped her arm around his waist, throwing his good arm over her shoulders. He almost fell back to the ground, but she held him up, forcing him to stay awake and try to walk to the ship. "_Damn it_, Harper, just walk with me!" she yelled. He finally complied with her demands and walked, with her support, to the Maru. Beka kicked the hatch release switch and the door flew open, allowing the two enough space to enter the ship. "Trance!" Beka called out. Trance's purple face popped out from around the corner, where her hydroponics bay was, and she immediately rushed toward them.   
  
"What happened?" she asked as she helped Beka support Harper's weight. Harper moaned in pain when she touched his shoulder and mumbled "Bobby" under his breath. At first Trance couldn't understand him, but after he said it a few more times, she realized that he was telling them Bobby had done this to him. "Bobby did this to you?" She looked over at Beka, who looked extremely pissed off. "Beka, let's make sure Harper makes it before you go on a murderous rampage, okay?"  
  
"I'm cool, Trance," Beka said as calmly as she could. "But as _soon _as I know that Harper is okay, I'm gonna go hunt that _bastard _down and make him wish his parents had never even _thought _of having him…"   
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Beka paced outside the medical bay. After helping Trance as much as she could to help Harper, she realized she couldn't take seeing him the way he was anymore and decided to wait outside. He was too young for this kind of stuff to happen to him. She'd seen the scars, most likely made by a whip or whatever his former "employer" could find to beat him with, when they'd taken off his shirt so Trance could repair his shoulder. Suddenly, Harper wasn't just her new engineer; he was her little brother, still a little kid who needed somebody to take care of him and make sure everything was okay for him. She started to wish that she could take away all of his pain and kill anybody who ever hurt him or told him he wasn't worth anything. He sure as Hell was worth something to her and Trance, and she hoped that was all he needed. Without realizing what she was doing at first, she punched the wall, cutting her knuckles enough to draw some blood but not using enough force to make it hurt so bad.   
  
"Beka?" Trance's small voice beckoned from the door to the medical bay. Beka looked up in surprise and hid her hand behind her back, although she knew Trance probably saw or heard her hit the wall. "He's going to be okay. He lost a lot of blood, but I've got him stabilized and the nanobots are working to repair the damaged tissue. He should be fine within a couple of weeks, so long as we can keep the infection out."  
  
Beka released the breath she'd been holding and leaned against the wall, sliding down it until she was sitting with her head rested against the wall. "Thank you, Trance," she said quietly. "If I were a man, I'd kiss you." They stayed like this for about five minutes, with Beka sitting on the floor and Trance leaning in the doorway, until Beka sighed and stood back up, using the wall for support. "Is he conscious?" Trance nodded slowly and unsurely.   
  
"He's awake, but he's very weak," Trance explained. "I've got him on a light sedative just to keep him calm."  
  
"Good enough for me," Beka said as she walked past Trance into the room. Harper was resting on one of the beds, now covered with a white and blue blanket that Trance had made when she first came on board. He was still too pale, but some of the color was returning to his cheeks. His eyes stood out in his pale face and it made Beka think that he was like a chameleon, blending in with the white and blue blanket. She laughed a little, whether from the thought or from the nerves she didn't know. "Hey, shorty," she said quietly. He looked over at her and smiled a little. It was obvious he was still in pain, but it wasn't as intense because of the sedative. "I need to ask you some questions, kiddo."  
  
He creased his brow in contemplation. "I don't like '_kiddo_' either…" he slurred. Beka laughed and sat down next to him, stroking his blond hair away from his forehead.   
  
"You said Bobby did this to you?" she asked. He nodded weakly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but… Why didn't he kill you?"   
  
Harper smiled and replied, "'Cause I didn't give him the chance. Rule number one is you always go for the groin." Beka didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but she let him continue anyway. "My philosophy is that you don't _ever _give up, even if that means you might die. Fortunately for me, I found Bobby's weak spot." He laughed lightly at this, trying not to cause himself any more pain. "I think I left him in the alley about… ten blocks from here. You can probably follow my blood trail to where it all happened."  
  
"Harper, did you kill Bobby?" Beka asked fearfully. She could care less if Bobby was dead, but if the city's police did an investigation, they would more than likely arrest Harper and throw him in jail for the rest of his life, or worse, execute him for the murder.  
  
"He wouldn't just _pass out_," Harper continued. "But I persisted. I don't think I killed him, but he's gonna have one Hell of a headache when he wakes up."  
  
Beka smiled and stood up. "You did good, shorty. You get some sleep, you hear me? This ship doesn't fix itself." She walked away from his bed and approached Trance. "I'm gonna go try to find Bobby," she whispered. "If anything goes wrong, you call me, okay?" Trance started to protest, but Beka stopped her with a raised hand. "I'll be careful, Trance. And I promise I won't kill him. I'll just… rough him up a little bit, make him think twice about playing with guns again."  
  
"Come back soon," Trance said as Beka left her side and exited the medical deck. "We really need you here…"  
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Okay, cliffhanger solved… Harper's injured, but he'll be fine, according to Trance. And Beka's out to open a can of whoop-ass on Bobby. WOOHOO!! Sorry… Couldn't contain myself… Review if you please.


	6. Chapter 6: Finale

I am terribly sorry for the long wait. I have been so busy these passed couple of weeks. Thanks for the patience, if you're still with me, and if you're not... I'M SORRY!!! Yeah... Oh, and this would be indented on the first line of every new paragraph like it usually is, but fanfiction isn't cooperating with me... So, uh... Here's the next (and last) installment...

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Beka did exactly what Harper said to do; she followed his trail of blood to the spot where his fight with Bobby must have taken place. Only Bobby wasn't there anymore. He must have come to and ran off. '_The cowardly bastard_,' she thought angrily. '_Probably didn't think Harper could do much damage, especially with a hole in his shoulder_.' She searched the area for a moment before she decided to check all the bars in the area. Knowing Bobby, she figured he'd probably run off to some tavern or pub to drink away the pain of Harper's beating.

Just as she suspected, she found Bobby in a dark, dank little tavern not three blocks from where his fight with Harper had taken place. He was sitting at the bar, partially slumped over the counter, with a glass full of liquid in one hand and a bloody white handkerchief in the other. She couldn't help but laugh at him. He really was pathetic, for such a "tough" guy. Pushing her red hair behind her ears, she sauntered over to him and tried her hardest to look very upset.

"Bobby?" she said quietly. He looked up at her and swallowed, unsure of her intentions. "Bobby, I want you back on the ship." She forced fake tears to brim the bottom of her eyes and sat down on the bar stool next to Bobby. "Somebody killed Harper..."

"What?" Bobby asked in disbelief. '_I actually killed that little rat_?' he thought to himself. His look of shock turned into one of feigned sympathy and he reached out to hold her hand. "Aw... I'm sorry baby. Do you know who it was?"

Beka nodded and his breath caught in his throat. "He was mugged by some Nightsider bastard," she replied. His breath rushed out of his lungs in a sigh of relief. "Please, Bobby. Come back to the ship now."

"Okay, doll. Let's go," he said, standing up (with the support of the bar counter) and taking Beka's hand to help her up. She stood and walked in front of him, trying her hardest to hide her mischievous smile. As soon as they were outside and a few feet away from the tavern, she stopped walking and swung her fist at him, catching him on his cheekbone.

"He's not dead, _Bobby_," she said, emphasizing his name in a mocking tone. "He got back to the ship before he passed out and Trance fixed him up." She kicked him in the gut, forcing him to double over, then jammed her elbow into his spine and kneed him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Once he was down, she kicked him in the face. "You stupid son of a bitch... Did you really think killing him would make me love you again? You know, I still had feelings for you after you left, but now... Now the only feeling I have for you is this burning in my stomach that makes me want to kill you slowly and painfully."

"Beka, I..." Bobby started to say, but Beka kicked his ribs a few more times before pulling her gun out of its holster on her side. She charged it and pressed it against his temple.

"Or I could just shoot you in the head and make it quick so I don't have to listen to your whining." She stayed like this for quite a while, with her gun pressed firmly against his temple. People walking by looked completely shocked, but not one of them seemed to want to get in Beka's way. Finally, she spoke again. "I don't want to have _anything_ to do with you _ever_ again. Do you hear me? If I find you anywhere _near_ my ship or my crew again, I will personally castrate you and then tie you to the back of the ship and leave you back there when we take off. _Got it_?" Bobby nodded quickly, tears now flowing freely from his eyes. "Good. You have a horrible life, now." She removed her gun from his temple and clicked the safety back on, slipping it back into its holster. She ignored all of the people that moved out of her way as she headed back toward the Maru, a smug smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

**Four Days Later**

Harper looked up from his position on the floor of the machine shop and sighed. Beka had come to drag him back to his quarters. Again. Why couldn't he just do simple tasks like check all the parts he'd bought and _dropped_ that day that Bobby had shot him to make sure they weren't broken in their fall? He tried to ignore her and continued to work on the part in front of him, but she stood in front of him and tapped her foot, annoying the hell out of him.

"_Beka_!" he yelled, finally looking back up at her. She stopped tapping her foot and laughed at his frustration.

"Relax, shorty," she said as she sat down in front of him, "I'm not here to drag you, kicking and screaming, back to your room. Trance says it's okay if you spend a few hours down here doing simple stuff like this... Whatever it is you're doing..." Harper sighed in relief and put the part on the floor next to him, drawing his knees to his chest. "How're you doing today?"

"Better, I suppose," Harper answered quietly. "It still hurts, but it's from the nanobots more than it is the wound." He leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. "I'm still exhausted from it all."

Beka's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "You're actually admitting to me that you're tired?" she asked in disbelief. He opened his eyes and rolled them at her, laughing a little and smiling broadly.

"Don't tell Trance," he warned. There was a strange silence between the two. Harper could tell there was something on Beka's mind, but he didn't want to say anything for fear of getting too nosey. On Earth, you minded your own business, and on the slave ship, if you got nosey, you got beaten. Finally the silence was too much for Beka to handle and she crossed her legs so she was sitting Indian style.

"I've been keeping this to myself for a few days now, because I didn't want to send you into any memories that you'd rather not have, but it's really bugging me now... I know that some of those scars on your body aren't from your former employer. They look more like..."

"Self-inflicted wounds?" he finished for her. She bit her lower lip and nodded slowly, wincing at the harshness in his voice. "Maybe that's because they are." A few seconds went by and neither of them said anything. Harper carefully removed the makeshift sling Trance was forcing him to wear and rolled up both of the sleeves on his long-sleeved shirt. He searched his forearms for the telltale marks he'd inflicted upon himself during his time on Earth. "You get so used to getting hurt on Earth that sometimes you need it. That's when this happens." He pointed out some particularly dark scars close to the under side of his elbow. "Pain becomes an addiction that needs to be fed every once in a while. Most of the time I went out during the Nietzschean patrol and caused trouble just so they would hit me or kick me to the ground, but sometimes I would just cut myself. I never did it with the intention of killing myself, but sometimes... Sometimes things got so bad that I almost did wish I had the _guts_ to cut deep enough, but I never did."

"Do you still...?" Beka couldn't say it. She'd always thought that suicide was the cheap way out, but she never knew that there was other reasons people hurt themselves. Still, she couldn't bring herself to finish her question.

Harper shook his head and creased his brow in concentration. A weak smile crept across his face and he looked up at her with his baby blues. "I think I've had enough pain since I left Earth to last me a while. Plus..." He hesitated, trying to find the right words to say. "I think I've finally found a place where I can be happy _without_ pain." Beka smiled broadly and wiped away the few tears that had leaked from her eyes. Then she realized something; even after everything Harper had been through since he'd been on the Maru and even after everything he said he'd been through before he came to this planet, she'd never once seen him cry. His eyes never watered like he was going to cry either. She supposed that this was probably a survival technique he'd learned on Earth, that he saw crying as a sign of weakness, but then again... He didn't look at her like she was weak when she cried. He always looked at her with pure sympathy and compassion in his expression. At this moment, he was giving her that same look and he reached out and took hold of her hand. "It's not _that_ sad, boss."

"I'm not _sad_, Harper, I'm so incredibly happy. I'm glad you're still with us, shorty," she said with a smile.

"Can't resist my charm, can ya?" he asked with a cocky grin. He winked at her and wiggled his eyebrows a bit. Beka laughed and roughed his hair up before standing up to leave. "Hey! Watch the hair, boss. I spent _years_ perfecting this style..."

"I bet you did, shorty. I bet you did..." With that, Beka left the machine shop. Harper stared after her for a while before smiling contentedly and going back to work on the parts.

He was finally _home_.

**The End**

YYYAAAYYYYY!!!!!!! I finished, I finished... I'm doing a happy dance, can't you see me? I'm so proud of myself. So... Tell me what you think. I'll have another story soon. It'll probably be a comedy and it will have the return of my original character, Felix B. Clark. ...Sniffs the air... I smell changes comin'...


End file.
